The present disclosure relates to solar concentrators, and more particularly to a transportable photovoltaic system configured for rapid deployment and methods of operating the same.
Solar concentrators allow replacement of large quantities of expensive semiconductor materials used in fixed flat panel systems with less expensive materials so that light can be concentrated on a smaller high power semiconductor photovoltaic device to achieve comparable performance at a lower cost. Varieties of solar concentrator photovoltaic systems have been constructed and deployed that range from small rooftop systems producing a few watts to very large concentrators producing thousands of watts of power.
Once deployed, the solar concentrator photovoltaic systems must tolerate exposure to temperature extremes, dust, rain, hail and high winds. The ability to tolerate gusts of 140 miles per hour is a common requirement. Power inversion from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) is typically performed by connecting many concentrators systems into a single inverter operating at up to many thousands of watts. In more recent embodiments, micro inverters have been introduced that will grid couple smaller solar collectors operating at powers of 100 W to 500 W.
A significant cost component in many current systems is the cost for on site assembly and extensive site preparation. Concentrator systems are constructed in component form and shipped to the site for assembly. On site preparation includes grading, excavation and pouring of foundations. Once a solar concentrator photovoltaic system is constructed at a location, the solar concentrator photovoltaic system remains at that location throughout the duration of the lifetime of the solar concentrator photovoltaic system.